Wednesday, December 13, 2017

In the wake of the massive rebuke of Roy Moore by Alabama Black voters that led to the historic election of Doug Jones to the US Senate, now comes the news broken by April Ryan from inside I-495 that the Trump Misadministration's kneegroid spokesellout Omarosa Manigault Newman has been kicked to the WH curb.

Y'all know how much I love CNN pundit and commentator Angela Rye, and she of course gleefully had fun with the news.

And now it's time for me, like Angela Rye, to be gleefully petty to a community sellout whose Black card is under review.

#ByeOmarosa

I love it when sellouts to our community get the karmic kick in their ample posteriors they deserve, and I'm also pleased as a taxpayer we are no longer paying $180,000 of our tax dollars for her to do nothing but provide melanin for Trump Administration photo ops.

Despite Trump and his white supremacist fundie allies desires to mess with our ability to serve our country, on January 1, 2018 the Pentagon will allow any qualified transgender American to enlist in the US Armed Forces.

You will have to have been on hormones for 18 months to do so.

Trans people serve in our armed forces at a higher rate than our cis counterparts, and there are currently over 15,500 active duty trans people serving our country in various capacities.

There are several lawsuits pending to squash the Trump transgender service ban he announced via Twitter back in July. Two US district federal court judges have already ruled against the ban and shut down a last ditch attempt by the Trump administration to keep transgender Americans from enlisting as the cases wind their way through the federal judiciary.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. David Eastburn stated that the enlistment of trans American citizens would commence on January 1 and would continue even as the cases are litigated in the federal court system.

So if you're a trans person who meets the qualifications for service in our armed forces and wish to do, then you can head to your nearest recruiting center to start the process.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

'I'm betting on Black Alabamians shocking the world despite every GOP attempt to suppress their votes and hopefully carrying Doug Jones to victory.'-TransGriot, December 12, 2017

Told y'all. Congrats to US Senator-elect Doug Jones You can never go wrong betting on the Black vote, and especially Black women voters. When properly motivated and turned out, they are the most reliable voting bloc in the liberal-progressive coalition and power Democratic election wins.

They proved it in Virginia last month and now in Alabama. Black women voted at a 98% clip for Jones, and Black men in the state were just behind them at 92%

And where were white women? Voting for the GOP pedophile at a 65% clip

So let me say this louder for the fauxgressives in the back who seem to be confused about who is the undisputed base voter of the Democratic Party that will lead us to 2018 victory.

It is undeniably Black women. So time to get in formation in 2018 and let Black women lead you to victory in 2018 and beyond
So when are you Democratic Party going to invest in maximizing turnout of Black voters, ending voter suppression, and stop wasting your time on lukewarm independents who ain't loyal to you?

Anyway, that's a subject for another post, but tonight is one for celebrating this huge win and witnessing the first Democrat to be elected as a US senator repping Alabama in 25 years.

Well Alabama, once again, just as it was during the Civil Rights Movement, the eyes of the nation and the world are upon you.

This time it is a morality check moment for your state. Will you elect an ignorant pedophile to the US Senate in Roy Moore, or will you elect Doug Jones, a man who sent to jail the people who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church and is more moral than the person who claims he is?

Even the Log Cabin Sellouts Republicans, who never miss an opportunity to sell the LGBTQ community for their tax cuts, considered Roy Moore too reprehensible to support and ran an ad attacking him.

Alabama Black community, it's nation time. Will you step up, show up in massive numbers at the polls and show off to the world the awesome power of the Black vote that Alabama Republicans fear so much they have desperately tried to suppress it?

I know Daroneshia Duncan and my homegirls in Magic City are planning to bumrush the polls today. How about the rest of you Alabama Black SGL and cis community? Make the rest of Black America proud.

If you're registered to vote in Alabama, you have until 7 PM CST to cast those critically important votes. If it hits 7 PM and you're still in line to vote, don't leave. Stay until you get to vote.Do what you need to do to handle your election business because the Alabama Republicans will use every dirty suppression trick to keep you from voting.

They have a long history of voter suppression and are a major reason why the Voting Rights Act was passed in the first place back in 1965.

I'm betting on Black Alabamians shocking the world despite every GOP attempt to suppress their votes and hopefully carrying Doug Jones to victory.

We' and the world will know in a few hours which road you took. Did you elect the Democrat with integrity to represent you in the US Senate or the Satan's helper Republican?

Monday, December 11, 2017

Today is the last day you can file to run for office for the upcoming Texas primary elections in March 2018. Over the weekend people were either signing their paperwork to run for office or starting to hold events to get their name out there in advance of the primaries

In the wake of many Texas trans people (myself included) being majorly pissed off about the Republican legislative attack on us that we stopped in the 2017 regular and Special Oppression Session, it has motivated many of us to either seriously think about running for office or actually do so.

Finn Jones and Dylan Forbis are two of the Texas trans people who are running for the Texas Legislature in the 2018 cycle. Dylan and Finn have made it official in signing their paperwork and paying the filing fees in order to officially run for office.

As a reminder ,Jones is running in HD 94 in north Texas against incumber Republican Tony.Tinderholt, and on this end of I-45 Forbis is running in HD 29 against Republican incumbent Ed Thompson.

Forbis has a contested Democratic HB 29 primary to navigate before he can take on Thompson and as of yet haven't found out if Jones has the same situation

But the most important thing is that both men are running for office, and with support from the voter of those respective districts, they will win and #TransformPolitics in Texas.

So what are the NAACP Image Awards? Noting the fact that the major award shows far too frequently don't recognize the talents of our people, the NAACP founded this annual event in 1967 to honor outstanding people of color in the film, television, music and literature.

The NAACP Image Awards were first televised on FOX in 1994, and the first live telecast also happened on FOX in 2007 for its 38th annual edition. It has happened every year except in 1978 and 1995, but since then has become an eagerly attended and anticipated event .

This year's edition of the NAACP Image Awards are adding a new feature in 2018. For the first time, the general public can cast votes for this year's nominees

If you are interested in weighing in on who will walk away with awards next month you need to get busy. The deadline to cast your votes for you think should win the various NAACP Image Awards categories is December 15.

Here's the link to do so, and once you do, tune into TV One on MLK's birthday at 9 PM/8 PM CST to watch this year's edition of the NAACP Image Awards.

Friday, December 08, 2017

You know that some of my archived posts track the progress of Nikki Araguz Loyd's landmark marriage case that overturned Littleton v Prange and established the marriage rights for trans Texans

Since that Araguz v. Delgado case successfully concluded, she has been busy selling her husband William Loyd's amazing artwork, being a mom, doing some trans advocacy work of interest to her and most recently the PTA president ,

Nectar features a full traditional coffee bar including nitro cold brew on tap, nitro ice cream as well as nitro infused sweet and savory treats whimsically referred to as dragon's breath. The center of the café is a full waffle bar including their signature gluten free Nectar waffle reminiscent of a Brazilian cheese bread, They also serve traditional waffles topped with items like BBQ beef, air fried chicken and for you adventurous foodies, escargot.

The nitrogen infused ice cream comes in 45 flavors and looking forward to checking it out along with some of the other offerings on Nectar's menu. Nectar's interior is also decorated with William Loyd's amazing artwork

Nectar's Grand Opening happened back on December 2, and so far the unique to the area family friendly cafe is receiving positive reviews..

Nectar is located at 7576 FM 1960 E in Humble, TX. Will and Nikki would love to have you stop by and check out what they have to offer. .

At least once every decade, the Houston area will have one day in which we get some snowfall. It's not as rare as you think. It has snowed 35 times in Houston since the all time record Houston blizzard of 1895 in which we received the still record 20 inches of snow

Yes, we get snow in Houston from time to time. Sometimes it's just a light dusting, while other times it can be several inches like it was during my first Houston snowfall event in January 1973. Sometimes it's just in the northern suburbs, and other times it encompasses the entire area.

The 'burbs got the measurable snow this time, while in my southside neighborhood we got a light dusting. The flakes started coming down around 10 PM last night but weren't sticking. I awoke to snow covered roofs and cars before the rapidly warming temps melted it. We hit 49 degrees (9 C) for a high temp today but the clear skies guarantee we will hit the freezing mark or close to it again tonight.

So let's segue to our usual Friday business of calling out fools, who are sadly more frequent that Houston snowfall. Tim for this week's edition of the TransGriot Shut Up Fool Awards.

Honorable mention number one is the Guiding Light Church in Birmingham, AL for coonery above and beyond the call of duty that earns them an Uncle Ruckus Award . These kneegrows invited Roy Moore, an enemy of our people, to speak at their church.

Honorable mention number three to Time Magazine for decalring the #MeToo movement the Persons of the Year, but instead of having the creator of it Tarana Burke on the cover put Taylor Swift's fauxgressive azz on it.

Honorable mention number four is former Colorado GOP chairman Steve Curtis, who got busted actually doing what they accuse Democratic voters of doing in every election cycle.

This week's Shut Up Fool Award winner is the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune for their idiotic swastika cake analogy in this editorial to justify discrimination against TBLGQ Americans

Really people?

Y'all need to stop with the repeated attempt in white run media trying to put positive spin on the ridiculous concept of allowing fundies to discriminate against people they don't like.

Because if in your minds it's okay for fudies to discriminate against TBLGQ people, then it will okay for the nation of Islam to discriminate against you for being in their eyes and in their religious beliefs 'white devils'

Thursday, December 07, 2017

So happy to see Case Keenum blowing up as an NFL quarterback. Just wish he was doing it in a Houston Texans uniform. The Vikings are on such a roll with him as the quarterback that even though Teddy Bridgewater is healthy, he's been sitting on the bench as Case's backup.

Anyway, went 9-7 in Week 13 because I forgot to make a pick in the Vikings-Falcons game, and didn't catch it until after the game was over. Under the rules of our prognostication contest, that's an automatic loss if we don't pick a team in a game 15 minutes before its kickoff or forget to include it in that week's picks.

Fortunately Mike got that game wrong, but he still took the week with an 11-5 record.

You know I'll be paying attention this week after that mistake. Fortunately I have a lead, but if this costs me the threepeat, I'll be kicking myself over it until next September.

Teams I'm picking to win will be in bold print with the home team in CAPS. Mike's picks can be perused here via this link.

We finally have a major Texas Democratic Party player running for governor in 2018! That person is former Dallas County sheriff Lupe Valdez.

She's the former sheriff because she resigned a position that she's held since 2004 to run for the governor's chair. She'll continue to serve as the Dallas County sheriff until the Dallas County Commissioners meet to select her replacement on December 19.

It's a crowded field on the Democratic side to see who will take on the incumbent governor Greg Abbott. She also a trailblazer as the first openly gay Latina sheriff in the United States.

Will be interesting to see how this campaign shakes out.

I'm also looking forward to voting for her when the primary election happens in March.

The SI Sportsperson of the Year has been chosen by Sports Illustrated since the magazine's 1954 founding to 'honor the person or team whose performance most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement'.

Even though Sports Illustrated is a US based publication, non American athletes are also eligible to win that year award. There have also been several years in which multiple athletes have won the award.

This wear we finally had athletes who represent two Houston sports teams win the SI Sportsperson of the Year award in Jose Altuve and JJ Watt.

We all are aware of the awesomeness of the Houston Texans all world defensive lineman, but he also has a heart as big as the over 600 square miles of Houston.

As H-town was reeling in the wake of Hurricane Harvey's devastation, Watt raised $37 million for relief efforts here.

Altuve is not only a humanitarian who devotes time to several causes here in the Houston area, also led the Houston Astros to their first ever World Series title in a memorable playoff run for this team. Altuve also captured the American League MVP along the way

It has been an amazing sports year in Houston with the Astros title, the Dynamo making it to the MLS Western Conference finals and the Rockets getting off to a strong start in the 2017-18 NBA season. Altuve and Watt winning the SI Sportsperson of the Year just adds an exclamation point to it.

Tuesday, December 05, 2017

Despite Harris County going undeniably blue in the 2016 election cycle, we unfortunately have a 4-1 Republican majority on the Harris County Commissioners Court.

County Judge Ed Emmett, knowing that he is up for reelection in a few months in a county that is increasingly Democratic and pissed off at GOP controlled Austin and Washington DC, has been trying to play the 'I'm a moderate Republican' card. She's dhowed up at this year's Transgender Unity Banquet.

But where was his azz when we needed a Republican to speak up about the unjust SB 6? HERO? SB 4? He was fundraising for the same reprehensible Texas Republicans he's now trying to riverdance away from .

It's one of the reasons I would love to see Lina Hidalgo #FireEdEmmett and become the next Harris County Judge.

Since Emmett recently gave a state of Harris County speech, I'm giving Lina Hidalgo some time on my blog for you to hear her commentary about the county and her opponent.

We have had since the 80's several trans women run for office in various parts of Texas. Jenifer Rene Pool made history in the 2016 cycle by becoming the first out Texas trans person to win a party primary in the Lone Star State.

We even have a trans woman in Jess Herbst who serves is the mayor of New Hope, TX in the DFW metro area.

With the breakthrough electoral wins of Danica Roem to the VA state legislature and Andrea Jenkins and Phillipe Cunningham to the Minneapolis City Council, in light of the Republican led legislative attacks upon our community, we have had more trans people deciding to step up and run for public office.

And if yo're wondering about moi, I'm thinking about it.

The GOP majority in the Texas House is maintained in large part because many of those Republican legislators are running unopposed in their House. In order to change that dynamic, we are going to need good people to run for office as Democrats.

The Texas GOP War on Transpeople in the last regular and Special Oppression Session has motivated two trans men to step up in different parts of the state to run for state legislative seats during the 2018 election cycle.

And yeah, I know both of these amazing men I wish them the best of luck in #TransformingDemocracy and our state legislature.

In the Houston metro area, Dylan Wilde Forbis has stepped up to run against incumbent Republican state rep Ed Thompson in District 29 in the Pearland area.

On the other end of I-45 Finnigan 'Finn' Jones is taking on District 94 Republican incumbent Tony Tinderholt in the Arlington area. Tinderholt is a proud member of the far right Texas Freedom Caucus.

With the primaries happening in March, Forbis and Jones are ramping up their campaigns to raise funds, introduce themselves to the voters in their respective districts and with enough support, win and make Texas electoral history.

If you live in their districts, they can use not only your help, be it financial, as a campaign volunteer and most importantly, your votes. If you don't, they can always use contributions to their campaigns to fund what they need to do to emerge victorious on Election Day./

Good luck to you Dylan and Finn Here's hoping I'm calling you Representative Forbis and Representative Jones in November.

Monday, December 04, 2017

This is a conference I would love to attend but not looking like I'll be able to be there this year

It's the International LGBTQ Leaders Cobference sponsored by the Victory Institute. It has been held every year since 1984 when it started with a gathering of a dozen openly gay elected officials discussing the unique challenges of serving as an elected official while openly gay.

As the number of LGBT elected officials has grown to over 1000 around the planet, so has the popularity and importance of the conference. Last year's event in Washington DC saw over 500 participants from around the world attend, with 141 of them being TBLGQ elected officials.

40 of those TBLGQ elected officials went into a closed door session at the beginning of the 2016 conference to strategize about the unexpected election of Trump to the presidency and what their response should be to it.

The 2017 edition of the conference is back in Washington DC at the Washington Hilton from December 6-9 with the theme of 'Representation Is Power'.

Over the three days of the LGBTQ Leaders Conference attendees will engage in skills building, networking, plenaries and breakout sessions designed to help TBLGQ leaders harness and wield that power for the benefit of their constituents and our community.

"i'm not a fetish. I'm not a sideshow. I'm not a trend. I'm none of those things. I feel like I have a target on my head now But I don't reside in my trans-ness; I don't live there. I'm just another woman:
-Lauren Foster

Today is the milestone birthday of South African born and Miami resident, advocate, model and just another girl Lauren Foster who I have mad love and respect for. We talk and chat from time to time and I'm looking forward to the day that we can FINALLY meet in person.

When she's not being her fabulous self, her day job is being the Director Concierge and LGBTQ Coordinator at the University of Miami Hospital where she helps folks navigate the gender confirmation surgery process with Dr. Chris Salgado.

And yeah, she is one amazing person that I hope to finally get to spend some quality time with in 2018.

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About The TransGriot

Monica Roberts, AKA the TransGriot (Gree-oh) is a native Houstonian, GLAAD award nominated blogger, writer, and award winning trans human rights advocate. She's the founding editor of TransGriot, and her writing has appeared at the Bilerico Project, Ebony.com, The Huffington Post and the Advocate.
She works to foster understanding and acceptance of trans people inside and outside communities of color and was recently honored with the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award

TransGriot Blog Mission Statement

The TransGriot blog's mission is to become the griot of our community. I will introduce you to and talk about your African descended trans brothers and trans sisters across the Diaspora, reclaim and document our chocolate flavored trans history, speak truth to power, comment on the things that impact our trans community from an Afrocentric perspective and enlighten you about the general things that go on around me and in the communities that I am a member of.

--Mission Statement compiled January 2, 2011

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Feel free to leave comments on the posts. But bear in mind that you are guests in my cyberhome. As soon as I get to them, your comments are posted at my pleasure.

They will post as soon as I approve them, so no need to repeat sending them.

I strive to make it a safe zone for people to respectfully express themselves, but I have zero tolerance for hate speech, transphobic or blatantly disrespectful comments or ad spam.

I reserve the right to edit your comments for clarity or not post them at all.

2014, 2017 GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Blog Finalist

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The TransGriot is available for speaking engagements, college lectures, panel discussions, media interviews, conferences or Trans 101 education efforts for your school, business or professional organizations.

For local Houston area, Texas or national events, you can e-mail me at transgriot@yahoo.com

For events outside the Houston metro area, I ask that my travel and lodging expenses be covered.

This is separate from my speaking fee.

If you are interested in having me appear as a speaker or panelist, you can e-mail me with the date and details of your proposed event.

Please book as early as possible because my speaking and event calendar slots during the year rapidly fill up.

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This personal blog allows me to express my constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment free speech rights and kick knowledge to y'all at the same time on various issues.

Nothing in it shall be construed, spun, remixed, altered or interpreted to mean it represents the views of my employers or the boards of the organizations that I sit on.

Photos and videos posted to this blog are used for illustrative purposes only and unless noted in the post or linked article, photos/videos don't indicate or are not intended to imply the person depicted in said photo/video is transgender